Kosmos

Culture, travel, fashion and culinary delights: the Kosmos pages of Lufthansa Magazin bring you interesting and useful tidbits from around the world

Tobogganing?

You can get the hang of it far faster than skiing, but it’s just as much fun – ­especially on these spectacular runs.

Sled beneath the stars

The roughly 14-kilometer downhill ride at Austria’s Wildkogel Arena ski area takes around 40 minutes – going at speeds of up to 50 kph. After sunset, the trail turns into the world’s longest illuminated toboggan run.

daredevil descent

Length: 15 kilometers; elevation change: roughly 1700 meters; acceleration: up to 80 kph. Nowhere in the world will you find a more spectacular toboggan run than on Mt. Faulhorn in Switzerland. There’s just one drawback – the roughly two-and-a-half-hour climb to the top.

Go for Gold

Any sled trails worth mentioning in the Rocky Mountains? Or the Andes, or the Himalayas? Nope. Racing down mountains on a toboggan is a European specialty. Germany’s best run is the Hirscheckblitz in Berchtesgarden, which was designed with input from three-times Olympic luge champion Georg Hackl.

Build your own kayak, row- or sailboat in only a week at the Great Lakes Boat Building School in the U.S. state of Michigan. Then set sail straight into the water sports arenas that are the Great Lakes on the doorstep.

It takes two…

The best place to see and learn to dance the tango is Buenos Aires, where the sensual dance was born and where the annual International Tango Festival and world championships take place (August 9 – 22).

Towering talent

A master poised between Classicism and Avantgarde: MoMA New York is showing sculptures (photo: “Endless Column”) and photographs by the Romanian-French artist Constantin Brâncuși (1876-1957) through the end of February next year.